International

Nearly 700,000 UK nationals affected by Equifax breach: company

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Nearly 700,000 British consumers may have had personal data compromised in the massive breach at Equifax, the US credit reporting agency said Tuesday. “Although our UK business was not breached, the attack regrettably compromised the personal information of a range of UK consumers,” the company said in an emailed statement. The company, which last month announced one of the most potentially damaging data breaches affecting some 145 million Americans, said the […]

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Joy and confusion after Catalan leader’s ‘independence’ speech

by Adrien Vicente and Diego Urdaneta Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — When she heard Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont utter the word “independence” Merce shed tears of emotion — whereas Sergio scowled with disdain. Puigdemont’s Barcelona speech whipped up plenty of fervor among both supporters and rivals, but elation was mixed with confusion. There was joy among thousands of Puigdemont backers, who stood draped in Catalan flags at the foot of Barcelona’s triumphal arch, as they followed his […]

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15 dead as wildfires torch California wine country

 by Julie Charpentrat with Glenn Chapman in San Francisco Agence France-Presse SANTA ROSA, United States (AFP) — Firefighters battled wildfires in California’s wine region on Tuesday as the death toll rose to 15 and thousands were left homeless in neighborhoods reduced to ashes. “The homes are gone, they are like dust,” said Jack Dixon, a personal trainer who lives in Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 in Sonoma County. “It is just like we were nuked.” Dixon told […]

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Malawi leader vows probe as vampire scare forces UN out

  BLANTYRE, Malawi (AFP) –Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday vowed a thorough investigation after seven people were murdered by vigilantes in a vampire scare that has driven UN staffers out of the affected region. Since mid-September, vigilantes have slaughtered seven people suspected of trying to obtain and drink human blood as part of magic rituals. The vampire rumors sweeping the country’s southern region have forced authorities to impose a night-time curfew, restricting movement to […]

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Kim Jong-Nam had VX on face and clothes, trial hears

SHAH ALAM, Malaysia — Only a small amount of nerve agent — but more than enough to kill him — was found on the face of the North Korean leader’s half-brother after he died in agony following an airport attack, a court heard Tuesday. Kim Jong-Nam had 0.2 milligrams of VX per kilogram of body weight on his facial skin, well above the typical lethal dosage, chemist Raja Subramaniam told the trial of two women accused of […]

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Thai junta chief vows elections in November 2018

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Thailand will hold elections in November 2018, junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Tuesday, a date that will fall more than four years after he seized power in a coup. Immediately after his 2014 putsch Prayut promised to return power to civilians within 18 months. But that date has repeatedly slipped, and even after the vote critics say there will be limits on democracy. “In November 2018 there will be an election. Is it clear?” the […]

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JUST IN: Russian jet crashes in Syria, crew killed: agencies

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Sukhoi military jet crashed while preparing for take off from Russia’s Hmeimim base in Syria on Tuesday, killing the crew, Russian news agencies quoted a military spokesman as saying. “The Su-24 plane rolled off the runway and broke up while accelerating for takeoff… The plane’s crew did not have time to eject and died,” the spokesman said.

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Mass cholera vaccinations begin in Rohingya camps

by Alexandre Marchand Agence France-Presse THANKHALI, Bangladesh (AFP) – The United Nations launched one of its biggest ever cholera vaccination drives in the vast refugee camps of southeast Bangladesh Tuesday amid fears of an outbreak among nearly a million Rohingya now living there. Thousands of Rohingya men and women lined up in intense heat at makeshift health centers on Tuesday, many with young children in their arms, to receive the oral vaccine against the disease. The […]

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Magnitude-6.3 earthquake strikes northern Chile: USGS

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Chile early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said. The tremor hit 70 kilometers (43 miles) east of the coastal city of Arica, which is near the border with Peru, the US agency said. The quake struck at a depth of 82 kilometers, it added. Chile is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries. In the past seven years, it has had three quakes of a […]

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Macron takes EU reform push to Germany book fair

by Jérôme Rivet Agence France-Presse FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron takes his push for deeper European integration to Germany Tuesday, where he and Chancellor Angela Merkel will open the world’s largest book fair in Frankfurt. In his landmark speech on the future of Europe last month at the Sorbonne university in Paris, Macron stressed that “culture will always be the strongest cement of the European Union.” France is this year’s guest of honor […]

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Gloves off as Japan election campaign starts

by Hiroshi Hiyama Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo’s popular governor Yuriko Koike launched a bitter attack on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday as the gloves came off for the official start of a snap election campaign in the world’s third-largest economy. Conservative premier Abe, 63, is facing an unexpected and fierce challenge from the media-savvy Koike, who has upended the sleepy world of Japanese politics with her upstart “Party of Hope.” Addressing hundreds of commuters at […]

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Nate downgrades to tropical depression after hitting Mississippi’s Biloxi

Mississippi, USA (CCTV) — Hurricane Nate is now a tropical depression, after it hit the American Gulf Coast on Oct 8. The storm brought strong winds, heavy rains, and surged from Florida to Louisiana. One of the hardest hit cities is Biloxi in the state of Mississippi, with the coastal region suffering the most as winds reached 136 kilometers an hour. The storm moved rapidly through the Gulf of Mexico, flooding many casinos dotting the […]

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